Building up a word pool/adverbs and adjectives

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Some sentences may be correct and yet something is still missing:

I was walking throught the forest. I saw a fox.

They sound boring and lifeless.

Give more background information with attributes:

I was walking slowlythrough the dark and peaceful forest.
Then I suddenly saw a small red fox.

Here's another example:

There was a house.
There was an old house.
There was a really old house with a sagging roof and some broken windows in the attic.


Adjectives describe nouns and adverbs describe verbs or other adjectives /adverbs:

I was walking quite carefully and slowlythrough the really dark and peaceful forest.

see more:

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree are used to modify verbs, adverbs and adjectives. They tell us the intensity to which something happens.

I'm cold!
How cold?
I'm a little cold. (★) - I'm pretty cold. (★★) - I'm really cold (★★★). - I'm absolutely frozen. (★★★★)


★

  • a bit
  • a little
  • barely
  • hardly
  • narrowly
  • scarcely

…

★★

  • fairly
  • pretty
  • quite
  • rather
  • somewhat

…

★★★

  • deeply
  • decidedly
  • extremely
  • incredibly
  • really
  • very

★★★★

  • absolutely
  • completely
  • entirely
  • totally

Tip
Don't overdo it! Don't give every adjective its own adverb of degree but sprinkle it into your guided writing!

The Test

Put in the correct adverbs:

We had an English test. I was almost finished when I saw a bird outside the window.

Its colorful feathers looked absolutely wonderful.

The bird was sitting on the window sill and I was barely moving.

I felt incredibly lucky to see such a beautiful creature but my teacher was terribly grumpy today.

Use adverbs of degree. (Look at the number of stars.)

Did you do well in the last test?

Well, it was OK . We were a bit|a little(★) late but that seems absolutely|completely|incredibly|really|totally(★★★★) normal for me, doesn't it? So we had to hurry to class.

Oh dear! Your attitude towards school is fairly|pretty|quite|rather|somewhat (★★) disturbing. You always try

Ralph was fairly|pretty|quite|rather|somewhat (★★) nervous at first, but when he saw the test everything was ok.

Did you do well in the last test?

Well, it was OK . We were a bit/a little(★) late but that seems absolutely/completely/incredibly/really/totally(★★★★) normal for me, doesn't it? So we had to hurry to class.

Oh dear! Your attitude towards school is fairly/pretty/quite/rather/somewhat (★★) disturbing. You always try

Ralph was fairly/pretty/quite/rather/somewhat (★★) nervous at first, but when he saw the test everything was ok.



A Weekend Trip

Add an adverb of degree.

Our trip was extremely|incredibly|really|very(★★★) exciting. Munich is extremely|incredibly|really|very(★★★) nice.

What did you do there?

First we went shopping downtown. It'is a fashionable city, you know. In the afternoon we went to one of the many cool beer gardens where we had a traditional Bavarian dinner. It was absolutely|completely|incredibly|really|totally(★★★★) fantastic.

That sounds fairly|pretty|quite|rather|somewhat (★★) nice.

Then on Sunday we visited the Olympic Park. It was built for the 1972 Summer Games and it's absolutely|completely|incredibly|really|totally(★★★★)amazing. We also went up the TV tower and had a extremely|incredibly|really|very(★★★) fantastic view! Then we to the Olympic Hall where an exhibition was held.

Oh, that sounds extremely|incredibly|really|very(★★★) interesting.

But Josie was a bit|a little(★) bored, so we didn't stay long.

Our trip was extremely/incredibly/really/very(★★★) exciting. Munich is extremely/incredibly/really/very(★★★) nice.

What did you do there?

First we went shopping downtown. It'is a fashionable city, you know. In the afternoon we went to one of the many cool beer gardens where we had a traditional Bavarian dinner. It was absolutely/completely/incredibly/really/totally(★★★★) fantastic.

That sounds fairly/pretty/quite/rather/somewhat (★★) nice.

Then on Sunday we visited the Olympic Park. It was built for the 1972 Summer Games and it's absolutely/completely/incredibly/really/totally(★★★★)amazing. We also went up the TV tower and had a extremely/incredibly/really/very(★★★) fantastic view! Then we to the Olympic Hall where an exhibition was held.

Oh, that sounds extremely/incredibly/really/very(★★★) interesting.

But Josie was a bit/a little(★) bored, so we didn't stay long.


Inversion

Sometimes you want to strenghten your point of view by putting the adverb first:

Little did I know ...

Never have I seen such wildlife.

Rarely do foxes show themselves.

Not only did she do ...

Tip
These sentence structures are only used in writing, never in conversation!

Interactive Exercises

The Test

We had an English test. I was almost finished when I saw a bird outside the window.

Its colorful feathers looked absolutely wonderful.

The bird was sitting on the window sill and I was barely moving.

I felt incredibly lucky to see such a beautiful creature but my teacher was terribly grumpy today.


Building up a word pool
Synonyms

Building up a word pool

  1. adverbs and adjectives
    • Adverbs of degree
    • Inversions
  2. Synonyms
  3. Mindmapping
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